Religion. - Tbilisi - 2003 – № 10-11-12. - 96 p. - Bibl. in the end of each article. - In Georgian, summaries in English, Russian, German and French.
In the article of Z. Kiknadze „The Book of Deuteronomy" (16-20) is continued the theme of Moses' allocution to the people. Moses reminds Israelites the feasts of Passover, Pentecost and Booths. Three annual compulsory for all meetings of the people attached to Tabernacle, how to arrange the court, repeats the rules of sacrified animals' quality, pictures them the image of future king, who would be elected from the people by God; reminds the destiny of the Levites among other tribes, gives instructions about the true prophets and warns against them, repeats the rule of towns for refuge (asylum), rule about testimony in court.
M. Glonti, the author of the work "Which One Did the Father's Will" discusses the matter according to Jesus Christ's "parable of the two sons". Our Lord puts the question to the sanhedrim: "which one of the two did his father's will (St. Matthew, 21, 31)?
Jesus Christ showed that the other son, who did not do what his father wanted, personifies the representatives of sanhedrim and pharisees like them; the other son at once did not do what his father asked him, but later turned away from his sin and went to the vine-yard.
Confessing the sin is the only true way saving the sinner; - that is that, our God, Jesus Christ, teachers us for this parable.
G. Rukhadze. Antinomy of Image and Gender. The paper, on the grounds of anthropologic study of St. Gregory of Nyssa offers the following conclusions: a man is an image of trinity; Adam is the first man and no human substance existed in the world before him; Adam, similar to every male and female, is an image of God and he is made an image directly by the first man, without any intermediary step. Nature of a man is an image of a nature of God and since in the first person there is not a sign of gender, only the human nature is to be understood in the image, without any gender differentiation.
The paper by N. Gengiuri "One Specimen of the Symbolic Composition of the Crucifixion" deals with a relief of the church of St. George at Dvani, unknown hitherto in the specialist literature. This is a specific variety of the symbolic composition of "the Crucifixion". Compositions with such a symbolic content are encountered in the facade decor of medieval Georgian churches in the 5th-10th centuries. The comparative analysis demonstrates that the general character of the realisation of the theme in the Dvani relief, namely, the task of the accentuation of the central, i.e. Christ's cross, is close to specimens of the period of transition (the 8th-9th cc.). Other features typical of this period, however, do not occur here yet, which shifts its date to the early stage of the transition period (the 8th c.).
V. Makhniashvili. Self-Projection and Personal Identity. Present article deals with the issue of personal identity. In the first half of the article Hume's conception of memory and causality in discussed, the second part is devoted to some aspects of Derek Parfit's reductionist notion of personal identity. It is asserted that Hume, operating with a substancialistic notion of consciousness, apart from denying strict identity, is faced with the problem of psychological continuity. His conception of memory and imagination grounded on the criteria of "vividness", leaves two essential problems concerned with personal identity: first – personal knowledge of the past self and the psychological continuity. Concerning Parfit's notion of personal self-identification - it is said that Parfit, by introducing notion of psychological connectedness without identity, puts basic emphasis on internal criteria for "self-identification".
The work of D. Djalaghonia "Definitions and Religion of a Human Being" shows how philosophic and scientific knowledge got at variance with religion. The essence of human's nature in different epochs was carried out by a lot of the definitions beginning with "homo sapience" and ending with "homo faber".
These definitions do not show all of a human being's essence in case we do not show a man as an "icon of God" or "His alike", a human - being as a man of religion. In other cases he will always be defined only one-sidedly.
The main problem of the twenty-first century will be restoration of correlation between the religious, philosophical and scientific world outlook.
The artical of E. Dughashvili "The Ancient Georgian Translations of Stephan Sabatsmindeli's (of St. Saba monastery) hymnography" deals with the ancient Georgian translations of the hymnographical Canons dedicated to St. Fathers of St. Saba monastery, to St. Kuriakos and St. Saba which belong to VIII century famous Byzantine (Palestine) hymnographer Stephan of St. Saba's monastery.
These translations are existed in the collections of Georgian Big Iadgari (Tropologion) Sin. 59, Sin 1, sin. 64-65.
Studying translations of Canons in acoordance with originals has shown, that the X century Georgian translations are dynamic-equivalent or free. Every translation of Canons is different in its way, that determines individual attitude of translator towards the text of original.
V. Akhaladze. The Intellectual Backgrounds of Bioethical Genesis and their Correlation. The subject of bioethics is formulated and determined by the author as follows: bioethics reveals and investigates essense of the World (Universum) and world outlook, gnoseological, ontological and axiological problems of human life, studying phenomena of illness, health, life and death. The author clames, that there is an objective necessity of connection integrated transdistsiplinary natural and humanitarian scientific thinking with global, philosophical, ethical and historical-traditional (religious and national) outlook. The received knowledge thus should be based on the consiousness, giving advantage to morals and spirituality (the supreme human values) for creation of the uniform system doctrine. Such doctrine is bioethics.
I. Gagua. The Cult of Vesta in Ovid's "Fastes". In this article attention is fixed on the one historical event, that is described in Ovid's "fastes". In 241 B.C. Metellus rushed in the temple of Vesta, which was burnt by fire. This will remind the reader another fact, that Octavianus got in the Temple of Vesta by fource to take out the order of Antonius.
The author of the article thinks that Ovid's own position is not clear. On the one hand he agrees with Octavianus, but on the other hand judges his behaviour.
Religion. - Tbilisi - 2004 – № 1-2-3. - 96 p. - Bibl. in the end of each article. - In Georgian, summaries in English, Russian, German and French.
Z. Kiknadze. The Book of Deuteronomi (chapters 21-22). In this section of the Book of Deuteronomy are given miscellaneous laws to be observed in Canaan: the law of the unidentified murderer; the rights of captive women; concerning the loved and unloved wife and the problem of the birthright; the chastisement of the stubborn son; the prohibition of the wearing of clothes of the other sex; the laws against unnatural mixing of dissimilar things (so called shaatnez), offences against marriage and sexual purity, seduction of a betrothed woman and a young girl.
In an article of G. Koplatadze "The Harmonization of Ethics and Aesthetics in the works of Basilius the Great" discusses the interconnection of ethical and aesthetic problems in Basilius and comes to the conclusion, that the Church Father absolutely coincides the categories of ethics (God) and aesthetics (Beauty): God gave the world to descendants of Adam as a race, where they have to work hard and in the course of striving for moral perfection achieve the similarity to God hence to achieve deifying – the main goal men were created for.
G. Rukhadze. The Somatic Image. The conception of St. Irineus of Lion is discussed in the article. According to him the archetype of a man as a creature, was the incarnated Son of God, i.e. not a spiritual, but a corporeal being. By comparison of the conception of Protoiereus G. Florovsky and Irineus's french translator A. Russo about this issue, it is concluded, that Adam was created not according to the icon of a man "had this man even been the incarnated Son of God", as a man is created not only by the icon of Son, but by "the icon of Father" as well.
E. Bubulashvili. Ekvtime Takaishvili's Services to the Church of Georgia. The article tells us about Ekvtime Takaishvili's great contribution in preserving and scientific investigation of the authocaphaly Church of Georgia.
E. Takaishvili personal activities saved and preserved the deserted churches and monasteries, Church relics and old manuscripts. With his great effort Church relics which had been out of use in liturgical practice were placed in museums and thus preserved from demaging and destruction.
M. Psellos. "De omnifaria doctrina (Episodes about the Mind)". Translated from Greece, Comments and Epilogue by Lela Alexidze. The paper proposes georgian translation of fragments from Michael Psellos's book, in which the author characterizes the Intellect (Nous) and the intellectual cognition, also discusses the differences between the Intellect and the Soul. For the georgian reader Psellos' works are important in respect of the Commentary by Ioane Petritsi on the "Elements of theology" by Proclus. In the notes of the translation are quoted those fragments from Petritsi's Commentary, which are similar with the propositions of Psellos. On these grounds of comparison is proved that the position of Petritsi expresses his own interpretation of Proclus' philosophy and it reveals no evidence of dependence on the theses of Psellos.
G. Tevzadze. Ioane Petritsi and Albert the Great on the difference between mathematical and empirical sciences. This Problem was always important for philosophers and theologians as the means of classification of sciences, also for the separation of the spheres of theology and sciences. The author analyses the passage in Aristotle's "Nicomachean Ethics" where Stagirit founds the specificity of above-mentioned sciences: mathematical are purely abstract, they are not interested in the individual, unique, i.e. empirical being and therefore do not need experience, the representatives of other sciences achieve their goals only owing to longtime experience and observation. The famous Georgian philosopher Ioane Petritsi (XI-XII) and one of the most authoritative thinker of western Christianity Albert the Great (1200-1280) both accept Aristotelian position. Petritsi considers the principle that: "Consciousness shapes himself owing to the experience" citing Stagirit: "Young man can be a sage, but not experienced".
N. Kachmazashvili. The Problem of Metaphysics in the Philosophy and Religion. The aim of the article is to study the essence of metaphysics, to analyze its outlook independence as well as the necessity and value of metaphysics. The problem of interrelation of metaphysics and religion is discussed as well. The author thinks that metaphysics and religion have common roots that are conditioned by the human existence. They pursue the common aims trying to explain and justify the meaning of man's life. Figuratively speaking, metaphysics is a reasoning religion, and religion is a believing, resting on a religious feeling metaphysics. The principles of reason dominate in metaphysics; religion relies on the belief in existence of the God and the sense of constant association with Him.
A. Kukania. Towards the Some Aspects of Relation between Religion and Science. Religion is a cultural-historical and social-psychological phenomen. It in based on faith, but science – on cognition. In this speher problems are to be explained by combining with each other with several spiritual factors. From psychological point of view the foundation of religion and its very notion is based deep by in our felling.
E. Kochlamazashvili. For Producing the Old Georgian Literature Monuments. The article is the response on Nana Mrevlishvili's book "The Georgian editions of "Vita des Gregors des Thaumaturgos" by Gregory from Nissa". This is the first publication of Georgian translations of Gregory from Nissa's named work. The author of the review points, that there are a lot of serious mistakes in this published book. Though it needs to be corrected, renewed and published again.
M. Glonti. Towards the Pecularity about an Allegory Speach in "Wisdom of Fiction" by Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani (loquasity, malicious speach). "It's enough our malicious speach today" – this is king Pinezi's advice that is the аllusion of our God Jesus Christ's New Testament's advice, so as: "It will have enough worries of its own" (Mattew 6, 34).
Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani pays our attention to one of this worries – sin loquasity.
In the writing also appears the other sin – malicious speach.
Eunuch Ruka's malicious speach is opposed to the other smoothtongued characters of "Wisdom of Fiction" (Sedrak – vizer, King Finez, Leon and prince Djumber).
G. Robakidze. The Illustration on "The Martyrdom of Shusaniki" by Bela Berdzenishvili. Since 70ies of the 20th century there had been deepened perception and comprehension of hagiographic written monuments. There was possibility to illustrate "Shushaniki's Martyrdom" by means of the fine arts. B. Berdzenishvili's illustrations are modern; they look like performance sketches. The epoch expression is conventional in them. Characters' testimonial is external only; though the author has made them close to ascetic style. B. Berdzenishvili obtains great success while presenting folklore world; as to religious themes, she attempts to revive interrupted Christian tradition, which was not performed fully.
B. Arveladze. Ilia Chavchavadze on the Armenian "Orthodox". In his famous writing "Crying Stones" Ilia Chavchavadze had critisized and thoroughly rejected the opinion of V. Golmstrem about Armenian's "Orthodox". Today some Armenian scientists try to renovate this opinion which has no grounds to be affirmed.
T. Gvinianidze in his work "Michael Sabinin on the Papers of Georgia in the Second Half of the 19th century" speaks about famous scientist, whose mother was Georgian and who was very fond of Georgian culture. The author of the work tries to firward his great achievements in research of the life of Georgian saints. According to the author Michael Sabinin's works, in spite of the several certain disputable issues, are still important in the point of Georgian Church history research and we have no right to forget him.
T. Chanturia. The Questions of Relation between Faith and Education (From Platon Academy to Bolonia University). The author points out, that upbringing and educational system of a certain society enables us to form an opinion about the given society itself, its faith, ethical, aesthetical and common cultural ideal. The aim of our paper is to show the process of high school formation from the ancient Greece to the medieval Europe. Knowledge was believed as the main virtue in the ancient world. That is why antiquity became the founder of the European educational system. The problems of faith from the very begining were brought to the forefront from the very first years of the establishment of Christianity, mainly after the foundation of church schools. High schools in Europe were already founded from the XIII c.
Religion. - Tbilisi - 2004 – № 4-5-6. - 96 p. - Bibl. in the end of each article. - In Georgian, summaries in English, Russian, German and French..
V. Rtskhiladze. Attempt of Interpretation some of the Decissive Moments in Georgian History with Due Regard for Christian World Outlook. This magazine covers only first series of the work. The next series will continue in the following issue.
The first series includes Preface, Introduction or Theistical Prolegomena, the text is divided into two main sections – section one – Sin and section two – Two Georgia.
The work is purposefully connected with Christian world outlook. But because of the persecution of Religion under communists (lasted for seventy years) in Georgia as well as in other former Soviet Republics the author of this work considers it necessary to supply the work with the Lengthy Theological Introduction to make it clear for the wide range readers. Introduction or Theistical Prolegomena is divided into following chapters:
The section one – Sin is divided into subsections I and II. Subsection I deals with Sin in the old testament sense. The subsection II – Christianity and Sin includes following chapters:
The section two – "Two Georgia" includes following chapters:
The author examines whole historical period that Georgia came under aggression of Islam. These assaults eventually led to the political Crash of the Georgian State system and as a result Georgia became province of Russia by XIX century.
The author criticizes some of the Georgian historiographers as well as those who wish to create "The United Caucasian Home" together with Muslim nations, which is qualitatively incompatible in author's point of view. But the author considers it necessary to establish good relationship with the Muslim countries.
Religion. - Tbilisi - 2004 – № 7-8-9. - 96 p. - Bibl. in the end of each article. - In Georgian, summaries in English, Russian, German and French..
Dialogue – "Ethical Existance and Lord's Will". In the center of dialogue between mitropolian of Nekresi and Hereti Sergi (Chekurishvili) and professor, doctor of philosophy Anastasia Zakariadze there are focused the problems of christian morality, which are discussed in the light of spirituality, the magisterium of the church and the perfection that is commandmented by Gospel.
In the dialogue both sides try to prove that the aim of each single human existance has to be choosing virtuous life.
Z. Kiknadze. "Deuteronomy" (Ch. 21-26). In this section of the book of Deuteronomy are given the following problems:
G. Coplatadze. On the Georgian Origin of Basil the Great. The author of the article analyses the information derived from the sources concerning the national origin of Basil the Great. From this viewpoint the article is the first to investigate the personal letters of St. Basil. Based on them the author supports the Georgian scientists who suppose that Archbishop of Caesarea and Cappadokia was Georgian by origin.
G. Rogava. The Specification of Religious Consciousness of the Abkhazians. Inspite of the fact that believers until today because of following reasons: 1. In the beginning religious rite was on Greek, but after on Georgian language, which was unaware for the vast number of population; 2. There had not been created Christian literature on Abkhazian language hitherto. 3. There was a lack of own spiritual cadres; 4. Since the XIII century the tribe of Absuat, which was settled from North Caucasus has weaken Abkhazians' Christianity by means of own heathenism. 5. Since the XVI century the Turkmen have been distributing Islam, because of which today Abkhazians have triple religious: Heathenism, Christianity and Islam.
G. Gvasalia. Subjective Time in the Teaching of M. Heidegger and St. Augustinus. The problem of subject always remains temporary and historical for Heidegger. His comprehension of the problem of subjective time is closely connected to the Christian comprehension of the same problem. In Augustinus' doctrine time becomes subjective-psychological and historical. Subjective, immanent time in Augustinus' teaching is connected with inner word and thus theological philosophy of language is being created. In Heidegger's teaching of human soul and language philosophy are interlaced with each other. Both thinkers agree, that time and subjective thought are identical. Heidegger creates new ontology, by means of which joint of finite creature with the God will become possible. Augustinus set himself such kind of aim as an object in his teaching about inner human being.
N. Rodonaia. Cristicism of Speculative Theology in the Works of Young Hegel. The works of young Hegel criticize speculative theology as opposed to religion. Hegel criticizes substitution of genuine inner faith with an empty form of church rituals and ceremonies which kills true content of faith. Hegel wishes such a religion, in which are involved heart, sensuality and reason of a human being and which rests upon his free will and moral. This complicated set of nuances is put by young Hegel in the concept of Love, connecting one person with others and integrating all the people in a society. This is two-sided Love of finite to infinite and inversely.
M. Glonti. Galaktion Tabidze about Lyrics. The ideas, about the meaning of poetry and poet, in "The Word about Lyrics" by Galaktion Tabidze have clear relationship with Shota Rustaveli's opinions about the same question arisen in the article, for example: the true poetry comes from the heaven and the poet, has been got God's gift, is for studing the Univese, has done by God and God himself.
L. Giorgobiani. On the Specificity of Korogo Monument. Against the X century Georgian monuments stylistic differences background, a special place has Korogo temple relieves, usual living subjects and signs reflecting the reality in the figures. It must be mentioned, that the tendency of the reality reflection and aspiration for volume are originally compatible with abstraction of conditional elements. After the modern difficulty and enrichment of primitivist artistic method, the criteria of Korogo monument assessment became more profound, because the artistic innovation is assessed differently from the modern art's point of view, this became clearly apparent in the Korogo monument. From today's point of view, and taking into account the Georgian plastic aesthetics, we are consider it a reform event. This opinion is proved by the monument's theme, as well as by its purely formal character.
A. Kukania. Religion and Politics. The author points out that, religion and politics are absolutely different types of social and existencial patterning. Politics can't represent the truth, because for it there is not eternal truth, everlasting saints, desired values. In political battle wins a pragmatics, who doesn't find himself or herself with morality and ethical obligations, as victory of politics always shows failure of morality.
Father Adam (V. Akhaladze). Conception of the Primacy of the Spirit and the Spiritual in Bioethics. The author presents the main criteria, principles and conceptions of dualistic human essence and its relations with nature, the universe and the absolute research. It is proposed the conception of the primacy of the spirit and the spiritual as the choice in bioethical and global problems solving.
T. Giorgobiani. Questions of Imaginative Language and Style According to the Greek and Georgian Versions of the Holy Scriptures. According to the author long with depicting varied figurative means of the Georgian language the translations clearly indicate the ancient literary traditions this language bears. A rather unnatural style is mainly due to the Graecisms, which emerge both in lexiko-semantical and grammatical calques.